Slides in this set

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Background Plato's world of forms belongs in a category of philosophy called epistemology (the study of knowledge) There are two main branches: Empiricism (the view that all useful knowledge is experienced and we are a tabula rasa) and Rationalism (the view that all useful knowledge is innate) Plato was a Rationalist who thought knowledge was innate (already in our minds when we are born) He uses his cave idea to explain how we all have a concept of things that we cannot experience (like beauty) in our minds…read more

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World of Forms Plato believes there is a world in the sky called the world of forms. Our soul visits this world In this world the true form of everything imaginable exists There you will find beauty and you will experience it (along with everything else) Before you are born you drink from the fountain of forgetfulness which makes you forget what you experienced, which is why you do not remember it. In the world we know as reality everything is copy of the its true form, like a shadow or an echo of something of more substance. We return to this world when we die so that our next self can experience it when we are reincarnated.…read more

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What can the cave represent Plato mostly used it to explain where innate knowledge comes from It can also illustrate ideas about appearance and reality: The prisoners who accept the shadows for reality will never know true reality, the escapee however is enlightened and it sets him free not only from the cave but from the shackles of an unfulfilled shadow life Explores ideas on deception: The puppeteers are like Henry deceiving Dorian about the reality of hedonism, he spends the majority of his life shackled to the shadows (Mephistopheles distracting Faust with various delights )…read more

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Dorian Gray Dorian is a shadow of his true self after he sells his soul for a painting, and the painting Dorian's true form, Dorian prefers the shadows to reality e.g. the opium dens at night We can see this in his treatment of Sybil: he falls out of love with her when she realises what true form of love is and becomes enlightened. Dorian is an Eikasia in the eyes of Plato: a creature with the lowest level of understanding about reality. We can also see this in his Opium habit, which shows he prefers the contrived euphoric dream state that comes with the drug than real feelings Victorians (especially high society) often saw appearance and reality as one in the same, this is explored in the book and the cave allegory…read more